Joachim had had quite enough of the man’s ramblings and looked him in the eye, hopefully for the last time. He could have responded, or pretended to get angry, but he had already guessed what Stranghold was planning, and it didn’t include reinstating him to the command team of the ghosts of the Hitler Youth. The little man raised his left arm so that it was pointing just a little higher than Joachim’s head; he was about to raise his own salute in return, but realised at the last moment that it wasn’t a salute at all. Stranghold was mumbling something, and instead of holding his palm flat to the ground he was bending and interlocking his fingers while the air was blurring all around him. Joachim dived to his right and rolled into the mouth of the tunnel. Rather than trying to stand and run
